What an incredible week!

What an incredible week this has been. The outpouring of support and
faith is nothing like I have ever had before (except maybe from my Mom),
and for the first time in years it feels good to be in the games
business. I have always loved both making and playing games, but the
business side of it has been painful at times. In fact, there were a
couple times the frustration with publishers was so high I considered
stopping. It just seemed like the era of purity was over. Even when
Interplay was a large company there was such a positive vibe with
everyone pulling in the same direction with a real passion for their
job. I frequently run into the folks I worked with in those days, and
this same memory of those times remains with them.

One friend of mine who worked with me there said recently he felt
that in the beginning of the industry all the nerds were in charge, but
then as the industry grew it changed, and now the guys that picked on
the nerds got back on top. I think there was some great truth to that.
We all hope this movement is bigger than just Tim Schafer or Brian Fargo
as we want to get power back into the developers hands again. And the
unbelievable Indie scene shows that there is momentum in that direction.
The development community continues to pull itself together to ensure
their success. They share tools, they share statistics, they share
ideas, and the biggest donators in Kickstarter are always developers.
All of this reminds me of the freshness the industry had in the late
80′s through mid 90′s in which creativity was being directed only by the
gamers. The gamers will always rule at the end of the day.

You will probably hear me thanking you all a hundred more times, but
again, thanks for giving us this opportunity to do what we do best. Make
games!

Comments

Brian, congrats! You've got 16 days left to go and it looks like you're going to clear the $2.1 million you need to make Wasteland 2 truly epic. How about another funny video while we're waiting for the closing bell?

To everyone complaining about Obsidian 1) One reason why their games are so buggy is that their M.O. is getting only paid to create game and not get any money for how much game sells, so when the release date for the game comes, they have to release it and can't delay it. And publishes for some reasons don't bother with fixing bugs.

2) http://i.imgur.com/mAENC.jpg This is chart of possible way to complete ONE quest in Fallout New Vegas. One VERY minor quest. Obsidian is great at designing quests so that you can complete them in multiple ways, the ways you want to complete them.

Brian: When I first played Wasteland I was in High School. Here we are 20+ years later and if there is one piece of wisdom I'd pass on it would be this: Continue to believe, never quit, and continue to pursue your dream with this. Your passion for this has already brought you this far, keep up the good work!

Wasteland - wow what a game ... kept me awake some nights and away from studying ... which I probably should have done back then.
Still remembering the day I couldn't get going on ... "Nothing will get you beyond this point..." So I went to bed. Woke up some hours later and got the solution - it was sooo obvious, but apparently I needed some sleep
- went on playing 'til sunrise ;-)
Somehow it's quite difficult to get games with riddles/puzzles and a good captivating story anymore. But maybe it's just getting older :-D
Really looking forward to No.2
Go for it guys!

I still dream of the beauty that was Wasteland on Apple II- That game was real role playing- not just fighting bad guys but changing the environment, eating Hobo Dogs and drinking Snake Squeezins.
And who could forget the code book- I must have read through that thing about 50 times. I still use the line URABUTLN on my wife (since by coincidence her name fits!)
Course back then I was about 13...
Great work guys and I can't wait to play this game!

Man, I must block any kickstarter project notice... with Wasteland 2, Double Fine Adventure and Faster Than Light, I spent more money in future games that in actual games to play...

I never played the original wasteland, but spent a lot of time with Fallout 1 & 2. And Mr. Fargo has all my confidence. I only hope an spanish sub version of Wasteland 2 (hey, as you noticed, my english is far from perfect...)

I remember how much time i could spend on those old games back then when developers were in charge of those projects. i really miss the old days... you and mr. schafer gave us a chance to help you break the publisher's influence, now that we gave you the power to do so, its your turn to show us what you're made of ;) amaze us !

I'm finally encouraged by a trend in the games industry for the first time in quite some time. Let's hope that the Baldur's Gate 3 project that was mentioned is funded in a similar way. I funded both this and the Double Fine project despite not being a Wasteland fan, and will continue to fund similar projects in the future. Let's try to get this beyond 1.5 mil, eh? At 2 mil, I can only imagine just how awesome Wasteland 2 would end up....

Good to heard this, but i remember on Matt Chat 2 years ago when you said, that industry state is ok.. because of money. Now you are saying truth finaly. I realy hate new age Bards Tale crap, its time to make better games, but dont forget on good in new technologies..

The original game was the best game ever made, in my opinion. I've played through enough times over the years that I could probably draw all the maps, pixel by pixel, from memory. :D I hope there's some easter eggs for those of us who'd recognize them - Wasteland super loot bags, Bard's Tale's 50 berzerkers, escaping from hell, a crazed escapee from vault 13... just some minor things to make us all smile. What made me decide to plop down $50, though, is this: "No first person shooter, we’re going top down so you get a tactical feel for the situation." Fallout 3 was a huge disappointment; I loved the first, but the last didn't even feel like fallout to me.

I'd love to see the theme of religious extremism explored in a post-apocalyptic setting: how religious leaders might capitalize (or dwindle) based on the events Wasteland 2. A subtle commentary on extremism might be interesting on both ends of the spectrum--or shades of gray between.

At the age of 44 i never thought id see the likes of this again,Interplay and black isle made ALL my favourite games,every game these days is a clone of a clone of a clone,safe don't risk anything new don't do anything that's not going to appeal to EVERYONE ETC ETC.Yes this game maybe wont appeal to everyone but it will appeal to those that matter and want it and the number of pledges speaks for its self.Great job and if it takes longer to make right,then take longer,but im gonna miss alot of sleep till its out lol.

As a gamer I feel exactly the same way you feel. It seems that these days developers are the slaves being forced into creating something they don't want. I was seriously considering dropping out of the gaming scene until you and Tim decided to do something about it. You with all of your amazing talent decided to reclaim what is rightfully yours. You have my backing =)

@James Fox - The digital versions can be activated on Steam or whatever DRM-free digital distribution services they use, as mentioned on the FAQ on the main page.

The only Steam-only release is the beta access you get with the $75 tier and above, because they don't want to release the beta without DRM (Doublefine are doing something similar, IIRC.)

I never played the first game, but I cannot wait to play this, as the original Fallout is still the pinnacle of RPGs to me, so a new turn based isometric RPG is something I'm willing to pay a good bit of money for. It's going to be an exciting 18 months.

Wasteland was my first RPG back in the Commodore 64 days. My second being The Bard's Tale. I remember saving my allowances for months so I could purchase everything with the Interplay Stamp on it!
I just found out about this project and it bring a sense of Joy similar to those days.
THANK YOU Mr. Fargo !!
For all those sleepless nites when I was a kid, and for many more to come!

I never played the original Wasteland but i played the original Fallout titles, getting to play the game that inspired a series i hold close to my heart is going to be amazing! I hope youll consider this method with other games further down the line, there are many titles a big publisher wont fund, but that dosent mean we dont want them.

but I would like to see a planescape Torment HD / remake done, as I feel the story of that and setting is way better

as for the update, its been a roller-coaster of a ride, pretty sure its going to reach a good figure by the end of the period, and I fully agree to what Brian Fargo said, for too long publishers have done a great deal of damage to the gaming industry. if the likes of DFA and wasteland turns making and developing / selling games on it's head, then the PC market will survive, let publishers ruin the console market, its all they really care for anyway. I want to see old classic types of games making a comeback, and I for one, do not care about graphics, if the game has great gameplay, then graphics DO NOT MATTER!!!
I hope this project and DFA can prove making games without publishers can happen, and prove there is a market for older style types of games that the publishers no longer care about. keep up the good work we are all doing, lets get this project funded even higher then it is now

Well that's not QUITE true ishinken. I'd say there are games that have a heavy focus on gameplay like Skyward Sword or Dark Souls for example. But for the majority of games on the market what you said is true. Games get influenced to a degree where they completely change their genre to cater to "hat's popular" at the moment. Just look at Mass Effect and how it changed from ME1 to ME3. Or look at this article:
http://kotaku.com/5893424/there-was-going-to-be-a-mass-effect-first-person-shooter/

The worst thing about this is that it's also a selffulfilling prophecy. If they only put effort/money into shooters with a lot of graphic fluff, then of course that is the only thing that'll sell and then the "numbers" say it's popular and that we need to make more. bah.

I had a similar feeling to Brian about the industry. It began with people who loved games so much that they started to create their own, but once that actually became a viable buisiness, the buisinessmen invaded the industry. The kinds of people who care for the money and not the product, that are in every major industry and keep ruining products left and right. I guess I'm starting to ramble now though...

I am not sure how many more projects can be funded like this or if this could happen again for a wasteland 3, but for now let's enjoy the moment and bring back happiness into the industry.

Thank you for still being around. Quality games like fallout 1, 2 and so many other ones just aren't around these days. We the gamers want that uniqueness and creativity that you gave to us back. And by donating I am showing/giving support. I hope that you will succeed and continue to show the publishers that it can be done better.

This might not change the industry but if it means that the community gets a bigger voice in what gets developed and are able to directly support the developers that have provided some quality fun all these years. Then power to the people. +1 Kickstarter and Wasteland. Respect!